Minutes 04/20/1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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06.6 April 20, 1993 B~DGET MESSAGE As always, I extend sincere appreciation to you, City department executives, and to the many business and civic leaders of our great City,fOr your valuable and exceptiona~ty helpful' suggestions which.iT~have! incorporated lnto~h~s:~u Ge%. The~e~a~e'many:'ot'hers'jwho have'~made ~irect~and indirect - contributions to this recommended budget and, ae~ordin~ty~; offer my appreciation to the Constitutional Officers, our Cou~t system, a~x~ Comn~il~App~intee~ I. t~ank you for ~ur-su~p~r~t. I recemtly encountered a framed statement which has r~al relevance~ t~ this moment in-~the history of O~r City~- I<t~reads,. "Friends lik[e, us are Winners~ not only. because~we believe in ourselves~,-b~eca~se~w~.b~l~e~e in~eac~-o~her~ a~so recently encountered an African proverb which reads~; whole village to raise a child." Portsmouth is at a notable crossroad in its~h~ory~, a~crossr~a~w~ere, forward as "winners," we must begin to believe in each othf~r~ and where we must collectively commit to the "whole village" concept to continue our growth and prospe~i~.. ~ Our City is in transition. -We will, not remain th~~ same. The massive winds of change which have swept our nation, are also blowinG across Portsmouth, and we must respond. Our municipal destiny!-has changed; but ~e have'creeled new oppo~-tun/'ties:a~nd uniguestrateGies-for .economic success,~and.they.are working. Sometime~-~he transformation seems frightening,3 but we have, an exciting opportunity to respond to the challenges. Over the last three ~'~'~'~-~'~ been reshaping, redefining, refocusing, reorganizing, retoolinG and r~structuring our municipal organization. We started, and we continue, to completely rethink the way that jobs are being done in this organization, and we are doing it with great success. Our goal is to improve our processes at less cost while not cutting essential services. We continue to examine the services and programs we provide to our citizens to see if they are necessary and desirable. Are we now content to sit back and enjoy our success? By no means! For we are just stepping up to the front edge of the social and economic change which will positively influence the future of this City for many years to come. This budget represents but one vital element of the change process. It is a statement of what is'important to us and a description of fhe resources available to address our priorities. The Fiscal Year 1994 Budget does not raise real estate taxes, but does increase some fees, primarily to cover the costs of unfunded Federal and State mandates such as those required for sanitary waste disposal and the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. How have we avoided a real estate~tax increase? We have put our fiscal house in order by reducing expenditures and increasing efficiency. The measures we have taken over the last three years are our counterweights to tax increases. Since April 1990, we have eliminated 103 staff positions and have reduced related expenses by $2,500,008, which equates to ten cents on our real estate tax rate. Additionally, factoring out all general wage increases over the last three years, budget to budget, our General Fund has increased by only 2.2% from three years ago -- a remarkable accomplishment! Amid the worst economic recession in modern times with fallinG revenues, we have strengthened our financial position and maintained our bond rating with the rating agencies when many cities across our country have not been as fortunate. We~have survived and even thrived by not simply responding to change, but by directing its course.